Hanna Barbera

And the strange mash-up of DC Comics and Hanna Barbera continues — and even expands. As you may recall, Snagglepuss made an appearance as a back-up story in the infamous Banana-Splitz-meet-the-Suicide-Squad comic. Well now the pink puma has his own new series all to himself, Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles. “It’s 1953. While the United States is locked in a nuclear arms race with the Soviet Union, the gay Southern playwright known as Snagglepuss is the toast of Broadway. But success has made him a target. As he plans for his next hit play, Snagglepuss becomes the focus of the House Committee on Un-American Activities. And when powerful forces align to purge show business of its most subversive voices, no one is safe!” Written by Mark Russell and illustrated by Mike Feehan, the first issue is out now. Den of Geek has a review.

Over at DC Comics, the “let’s fool around with Hanna-Barbera” fun continues… with the premier of The Ruff & Reddy Show comic. “In the Golden Age of television, Ruff and Reddy were on top of the entertainment world…until the world turned, and they were forgotten. Now, Ruff is a washed-up television actor. Reddy is a clerk in an upscale grocery store. Can a hungry young agent convince the two one-time partners to make a comeback—and convince the world that it wants to see the famously infamous dog-and-cat comedy team back in the spotlight?” Written by none other than the famous Howard Chaykin, with art by Mac Rey. Look for it by the end of October.

The strange meeting of Hanna-Barbera pushed sideways through DC Comics continues with the recent release of Dastardly & Muttley #1. According to them, it’s like this: “It’s a red-letter day for the good folk of Unliklistan as they start to power up their first atomic reactor. But after pushing the wrong button, the ultra-rare radioactive element, unstabilium, has been released into the atmosphere! Now it’s up to pilot Lt. Col. Richard ‘Dick’ Atcherly and his navigator Captain Dudley ‘Mutt’ Muller to save the day. Will they safely complete their mission? Or are things about to get a little…wacky?” Written by Garth Ennis and illustrated by Mauricet, it’s available now.

Things get decidedly more anthropomorphic in issue #18 of Scooby Doo Team Up from DC Comics: “Can it be? The entire universe threatened by the spectral spirit of Canis Major, the dog star? To get to the bottom of the space-spanning mystery, canine crimebuster Scooby will have to team up with some of DC’s greatest dog heroes, including old friends Krypto and Ace the Bat-Hound, plus G’Nort, Wonder Dog, and the Space Canine Patrol Agency!” Woof. Have a look at it on-line over at Read Comics.

If you haven’t caught the word, this May DC Comics and Hanna Barbera plan to take Scooby Doo and the gang in a very… different direction, with the premier of the new full-color comic book series Scooby Apocalypse. “Those meddling kids — Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and their dog, Scooby-Doo — get more ghost-debunking than they bargained for when faced with a fundamental change in their world. The apocalypse has happened. Old rules about logic no longer apply. The creatures of the night are among us, and the crew of the Magical Mystery Machine has to fight to survive—because in the apocalyptic badlands of the near-future, the horrors are real! This new monthly series takes Scooby and the gang to a whole new level and features character designs by comics superstar Jim Lee!” Plus writing by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis, with regular art by Howard Porter. Read an interview with Mr. Giffen over at Newsarama.

Comic books are getting silly again, or at least getting weird. Later this month DC Comics presents the premier issue of a new bi-monthly full-color series, Scooby-Doo Team-Up. Here’s what they say about it: “Rumors of a giant bat-creature bring Scooby and the gang on the run—but Batman and Robin are already on the trail of their old foe, the monstrous Man-Bat. Before long, the crooks behind a fake bat-creature will come face-to-face with the real thing…with the good guys caught in the middle!” Got that? It’s written by Sholly Fisch and illustrated by Dario Brizuela. In the 2nd issue, Scooby-Doo teams up with Ace the Bat-Hound to fight the evil Scarecrow! Yes, really.

Back to our friends at Cartoon Brew again, swooping in on one of their scoops. Not long ago they reported about an in-development Hong Kong Phooey live action/CGI feature, starring the voice of Eddie Murphy. The film is being developed and directed by Alex Zamm (Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2) and Alcon Entertainment for Warner Brothers. Now, Mr. Zamm has posted a short test-film of the CGI lead character on line, and Cartoon Brew has the link. See what YOU think. (In case the footage gets taken down, Cartoon Brew were kind enough to embed it in their article).

Forgive yourself if you don’t recall Hong Kong Phooey… The 1970’s Hanna Barbera cartoon seems to have developed a cultural fame that transcends its ratings or its running time (16 episodes total). The show regained some fame back in the mid-1990s when the band Sublime (just prior to singer Bradley Nowell’s untimely death) re-recorded the Hong Kong Phooey opening theme song, which had originally been recorded by Scatman Crothers. (Crothers was also the voice of the character). In the original series, the rather slow-witted funny animal dog named Penry worked as a janitor at a police station… but then in secret he would change to become Hong Kong Phooey, a rather slow-witted kung fu crimefighter. So why bring this all up now? Well it seems that Hollywood is at it again: A brand new Hong Kong Phooey live-action/animation movie is in the works. And taking over for the late Scatman Crothers? None other than the Donkey himself, Eddie Murphy. Cinemablend has a write-up that includes this: “The comedian will voice Hong Kong Phooey for Alcon Entertainment’s upcoming production, a live-action/animation hybrid (much like The Smurfs or Garfield) that will take its cues from the Saturday morning cartoon of our childhoods. Variety reports Murphy will lend his voice to Penry, a mild-mannered dog who stumbles into a secret ceremony and is accidentally granted mystical powers, including the ability to walk, talk and do kung fu.” Actually, it sounds more like the recent Underdog movies to us. Stay tooned for more.

More news from Warner Brothers and Cartoon Brew: In anticipation of the brand new Thundercats TV series coming to Cartoon Network this July, Warner Brothers will release the original 1980’s Thundercats series to DVD on July 12th. Thundercats: The Original Series, Season 1, Part 1 is a 2-disc set that features the first 12 episodes, “as well as a special featurette entitled Feel the Magic, Hear the Roar, where fans speak out about their incredible passion for the classic animated series.”